By Freddie Lazaro LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte - This year’s Tan-ok ni Ilocano Festival of Festivals of Ilocos Norte will kick off on February 2 as one of the highlights of the province’s bicentennial founding anniversary celebrations. The festival, which was usually held in the last quarter of the year from 2011 to 2016, will showcase the different festivals of towns and cities of Ilocos Norte. In this file photo, participants of the festival drew spectators during last year’s ‘Tan-ok ni Ilocano Festival of Festivals at the Marcos Stadium in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte. (Freddie G. Lazaro/MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Ilocano pride, unity Ilocos Norte Governor Imee R. Marcos had initiated the festival to rediscover Ilocanos sense of pride, unity, and greatness. “More than one night of festivals and tremendous dancing, ‘Tan-ok’ is an investment for the days and years to come; we do this to revive what Ilocos Norte stands for and why we are proud to be Ilocanos,” said Marcos. Performances include portrayals of communal faith and religious festivals, historical events of colonization and revolt, traditional courtship and love stories, local folklore and legends, town livelihoods and emblems and even recent occurrences, such as the performance of the 2016 festival champion, Dingras. Known as the “rice granary of Ilocos Norte,” Dingras performers drew inspiration from super typhoon “Lawin” and the resilience it took to recover from the calamity. Other winners of the competition include Currimao, a coastal town; the provincial capital City of Laoag; and the City of Batac. Income and dev’t projects Income generated from the festival are channeled to development projects, such as the construction of the Ilocos Norte Red Cross building in 2012, cultural tourism projects in 2015, and the provincial disaster relief fund in 2016. Notably, three new museums were opened and inaugurated in 2015 and 2016, the Taoid Museum of the Ilocano Cordilleras, the Burgos Lighthouse Museum and the Balay Dingras or the Ilocano Rice Farmer’s House. Attracting over 60,000 spectators annually, both on-ground and online, “Tan-ok” Festival had been the main highlight of events of Ilocos Norte in the last quarter of the year. The 2017 edition was, however, moved to February 2018 to spice up the bicentennial founding celebration. Festival dividends The Tan-ok Festival, Governor Marcos said, has reaped dividends for the province. “It has brought us a lot of tourists and attention and a lot of free advertising,” she said. Marcos added that aside from being a tourism event and attraction, it also stimulates economic activity as local designers, choreographers, editors, makeup artists, and even construction workers stand to earn additional income from the event. 200 years Ilocos Norte Tourism Officer Ianree B. Raquel said this year’s Tan-ok Festival is the most historic and most meaningful staging, as it becomes one of the main attractions for the celebration of the 200-year foundation of the province. “Aside from Tan-ok Festival; of course, we will have activities all the way through May, as the La Milagrosa Provincial Fiesta will be showcasing the same theme: the celebration of our 200th anniversary,” said Raquel. “Thematically, our activities will be about the past 200 years, but there’s also a need to think about the future of the province. What do we want in the next 200 years or so? These are the things that we are trying to incorporate into the bicentennial activities.” Activities, festivities A dance parade, serving as a preview of this year’s “Tan-ok,” is also set for January 26, with a series of literary competitions scheduled on the following day. In past years, Ilocos Norte’s founding anniversary highlighted mainly with the ‘Open Capitol’, wherein all offices of the provincial government are the open exhibit for the public, especially to schoolchildren, to showcase the activities and functions of each office. The 2018 Open Capitol set tentatively on February 15, followed by the “I Love Ilocos Norte” Concert and Sirib Awards on the 16th. Norte, Sur “We’ve got some plans for a joint celebration with Ilocos Sur, but we haven’t finalized the lots,” Marcos said. Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur share a founding anniversary through a Spanish Royal Decree dated February 2, 1818, dividing into two the Ilocos provinces.